Kansas State is looking for traction to reciprocate their losing streak and continue their NCAA Tournament aspirations.

It doesn’t get any easier in its next matchup, facing arguably its most difficult individual challenge yet. As they host West Virginia Saturday night, they must account for star senior guard Javon Small.

Small is having a career season with the Mountaineers, averaging a conference-best 19.5 points with 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists. His most recent star performance was in West Virginia’s upset victory over Iowa State, with 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Small was named to Sporting News’ All-American team and thrice awarded Big 12 Player of the Week.

The Wildcats should be conscious when matching up with Small. They just allowed Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe to have the best performance of his early career, scoring 30 points on 61.5 percent shooting.

The game plan should be slowing him down, given they don’t have the backcourt firepower to contest with him offensively. Brendan Hausen and Dug McDaniel have slowed down after being reliable, consistent scorers.

The Wildcats play West Virginia (13-5, 4-3 in Big 12) Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Hausen and coach Jerome Tang both expressed the Wildcats’ capability of winning, but it has to start soon before the postseason hopes are all but out of the picture.

“This thing can turn,” Tang said after losing to Baylor. “You just have to believe and keep fighting. We’re healthy physically, mentally and spiritually. Our guys got a lot of fight in them.”

Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.